What’s it like to be busy and successful at doing good things that are some people’s dreams, but that come with an unknown cost? Logan was chief steward and curator of the Allume conference for four years. Then she stopped, and the conference ended. Why? Plus, the behind the scenes reality of an event where the one running the event doesn’t always get paid. Also - valuable insight on working with a publisher; find out why a two-book deal might not be a great idea; and sometimes a friend says something so meaningful that it makes you cry - don’t miss the last ten minutes and why Logan is still crying.

Ann Voskamp shares: what practical writing time looks like for her; how she makes writing a low pressure spiritual discipline; writers she loves and how they influence her writing; the disadvantages and overwhelming challenge of a successful first book; why book signings and meeting her readers are so important to her; why she doesn’t read reviews of her work; what she did the day 1000 Gifts released and how it was so different from the day the Broken Way released; and how to gather a safe community of people to help your writing life.

Most people have a to do list. A DON’T list can be just as important. Writing is a deep work; your energy and time for writing is worth protecting. We’ll share the things we’ve chosen - on purpose - to NOT do to help you with your own DON’T do list, because you can’t do everything. It’s kinda personal, kinda crazy, maybe a little awkward, and you might be surprised at some of the things we don’t do.

How is a part-time - or even full-time - income from your writing possible? You have more options than you realize. Here’s what’s worked for us, how we started, what we changed, and why. It’s an adventure - put your toe in and see what works for you! Just start small and get going - you might even discover a dormant longing that ends up paying you. And don’t miss the last five minutes, “Your Success Path: Choose Your Own Adventure.”

When your writing life feels complicated, having One Most Important Thing to focus on can be sanity saving. What’s most important? Is it writing skill? A certain social media? Your platform? Your niche? It’s different for everyone, and in this episode we’ll each share OUR one most important thing, to help you think about yours.

Your hopewriter calling is not just writing - it’s a calling to spread hope, to connect, and to be relentlessly helpful, without sacrificing your life and family. But, the writing life can have so many pieces, industry standards, and things it seems like you’re supposed to do. How do you know what’s best for YOUR calling? This is the Hopewriter Way - a perspective, a camera angle, a value system that focuses only on what YOU should do, think, and feel.

Here’s the end of that icky self-promotion feeling, the end of thinking that God should maybe market your writing without you. We long to get our message out, but we’re uncomfortable with what we think it requires. So how do faith and marketing work together? This could change how you think about promoting and marketing. And if you’re super-sensitive to being accused of self-promotion, don’t miss the last two minutes and Brian’s reaction to being told worse things than you’ll ever hear.

Thirty minutes to end that ‘I don’t have time to write’ feeling. You’ll change how you think about time, and getpractical tips for gaining time to write. You’ll hear how to plan your writing time with your family, see that there are two different kinds of time, learn why you shouldn’t tell people your big writing plans, and discover why ‘following the love’ might be the secret to finding time to write.

AKA: How to take a break. How to make the most of your summer, or of any time you’re able to take a break. Crazy as it seems, it can take courage, planning, and effort to rest - but it’s worth it. Just planning a break and knowing you have one coming can be life giving, and here are some ideas to start. Emily and Myquillyn share what they’re doing to make the most of this summer. Over time, they’ve learned how important a break is, and they work hard to be able to take one. This is what they do

Real stories we’re embarrassed by today - that seemed like such good ideas at the time. BUT we can learn from it, and laugh at ourselves, and use it to motivate ourselves, right? Brian's story of how NOT to get an editor’s attention. Emily and how you can be clueless about marketing, and yet survive! Gary on how to never get any writing projects done - an idiot move he still struggles with that HAS A CURE that Brian will share. And the real story behind the Nester’s 31 Days blog events - spoiler - she ended up hating it, BUT she learned from it, and you can too.

Writing can take a lot out of you. How can you move forward and be creative when you feel like you’ve been doing things a certain way forever? How can you make the most of your writing energy? The answer: You need to find your own balance of system and soul. Emily talks with her friend and fellow Hope*Writer Kendra Adachi from the lazygeniuscollective.com. Emily shares how Kendra helped her with practical ideas to funnel her writing energy, and with ways to organize her writing with categories and rhythms to make the most of her time. Everybody has a writing system, whether your realize it or not. This episode will help you recognize and make the most ofyoursystem, and balance it with your soul.

Ideas we’ve tried for living and working that have turned into genius moves that help us as writers, and that that have made life easier, better, and more fulfilling. Steal ours or come up with your own! You never know when some idea you try might turn into a life-changing move.

Should you blog? Is blogging dead? Can blogging help your goals as a writer? If so, how? How has blogging changed? What’s the best way to use a blog? If Emily and Myquillyn started a blog today, what would they do? And you’ll hear -from an editor- how editors feel about putting your book ideas on your blog.

Here’s what we can learn from
unlikely writing teachers like Taylor Swift, Bob Marley, Stacy
London from ‘What Not to Wear,’ Lorne Michaels from SNL,
philosopher Marcus Aurelius, and more. Writing school is all around
us if we just open our eyes and pay attention. AND - if you’ve ever
thought writing a blog post that goes viral would be the ultimate
success, don’t miss the last 8-10 minutes of this
episode.

For the hope writer, Instagram
can be special - it’s another way to share your message and give
hope. But we need to think of it purposefully if we want to have
followers who engage with us and our message. How do you know what
to post, what to say, what not to post and say, and why? There’s
more to it than you think, and this episode will open your eyes to
how Instagram can be an extension of your writing.

Learn from our experience what we wish we’d know before we published our first books - the difference between blogging and book writing, how to have a professional attitude, overcoming endorsement fear, ideas for getting connected in the writing community before you write your book, and why the Skinny Abs Diet Workout Routine is not a good book idea.